As I mentioned yesterday, last weekend I finalized my MBA classes registration for the Spring term. In reality I originally registered for all of my classes within 7-10 days after the registration was open sometime in November. My classes were selected based on the learned lessons described in my previous post.
One more thing I learned during registration is to register as soon as possible after registration opens. Let’s say the same day or at the latest the next day. This way you have a better pick of classes and more possibilities to tailor your classes to your out of school schedule. Also you might have some flexibility in selecting the classes, so you could avoid professors on your “watch list”, if you have one. This way you can exercise the most selectivity and flexibility possible.
The reason you have more flexibility is that some particular classes or classes on particular days are more popular. I noticed that if there is the same class given by the same professor offered two days a week, e.g. Monday and Wednesday, the Monday section always fills up first and prettey quickly. For example in the Fall term there was Financial Accounting and Microeconomics offered on Monday and some other day later in the week. Since I was registering late I did not have a choice of Monday classes as they were all filled up. Not that it really matters to me very much. But if you have that kind of preference for whatever reason, you need to register for some of the most desired classes within a day or two after open registration.
Anyways, this weekend I made some changes to my originally selected classes. The reason for this was that I decided to check professors for my classes on ratemyprofessors.com Generally, I found that those ratings should be taken with a big pinch of salt. There are some ratings that are almost diametrically opposite. And some of the ratings for professors I had classes with were not in line with my experience. Overall, it seemed to me that students complaints are not always really warranted. May be they are whining ’cause they got a lower grade than they expected, or they felt not challenged enough. Whatever it is, all the ratings are subjective by default. That said, I still find those ratings as a reasonable starting point. Just try to identify the real concern of the students, if possible, and see if it is also a concern for you personally.
At any rate, I made some changes based on the students’ feedback to the professor teaching one of the original classes I registered for. Now this is my MBA classes list for my Spring term:
Half-term-I
- Managerial Accounting
- Global Perspectives
Half-term-II
- Data Analysis & Decisions
- Managing Human Capital
- Entrepreneurship
Based on the feedback from ratemyprofessors.com I learned that professor in one of the classes I had for the first half-term was overloading with homework. This is not really too bad in general, if it helps you to learn and master the subject, but I felt that given my “love/hate” relationship with Accounting in the first term it would be better if I could have more time to concentrate on just two classes when I have Managerial Accounting. Since I dropped one class in in the first half, I had to pick up one more in the second half-term, because originally I had 3 classes for first half, and 2 classes for the second half. I am actually glad I did this change as most of the feedback for professor in the new class I picked up was very positive. None of my classes is on Monday, as you could have guessed, as I came too late to the “picking season”. But it is not an issue for me to begin with.
One thing to know about classes registration at GWSB MBA program is that even though the term consists of two half-terms, you need to register for all your classes in both halves before the start of the term. Any changes after that incur financial penalties. The Spring term officially starts on January 11. The last day to make any changes without penalties is Sunday, January 10.
I am personally done for now with planning. Just one week left before the first class 
;-(
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